This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Prime grant title: Behavior in Early Iron Deficiency, Prime PI: Betsy Lozoff, MD Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Gestational and early postnatal iron deficiency occurs commonly in humans and results in altered behaviors suggestive of striatal dysfunction. Conversely, iron overload has been proposed to play a significant role in neurodegeneration. The purpose of this project is to investigate the effect of the iron deficiency and iron treatment on the developing brain using an animal model. Early iron deficiency alters the neurochemical profile of the developing striatum and accounts for abnormalities in striatum-dependent behavior in rats. Brain metabolite are non-invasively quantified from striatum of iron-deficient and iron-sufficient rat pups and the effects of different doses of iron supplementation will be determined using 1H NMR spectroscopy at 9.4T.